Local fire personnel were able to put out the fire, but due to extensive damage it created, the bridge was closed for public safety.

R.P.S.O. Detectives in conjunction with investigators of the Louisiana State Fire Marshal’s Office immediately began an investigation into the incident as it was believed the fire was the result of an arsonist.

Various leads were followed up, but none led to an arrest up until now.

In November of this year, R.P.S.O. Detectives received information relating to multiple structure fires in the Tioga area, which included the Rigolette Bridge and two uninhabited residences located on Hollowdale Drive.

Detectives re-opened the original investigations and were able to establish sufficient probable cause that twenty-three year old Trenton Lloyd Malone was the main suspect in each of the fires.

As a result, warrants were granted for Malone’s arrest for Three Counts of Simple Arson Over $500.

On December 27th 2012, Deputies located Malone at a residence in the Alexandria area.

He was advised of the warrants and taken into custody without incident.

Trenton Lloyd Malone of 144 Hollowdale Drive, Tioga, LA, was booked into the Rapides Parish Jail, where he is currently being held in lieu of a $300,000.00 bond.

Detectives say their investigation is still ongoing and additional arrests may be forth coming.

If you or someone you know has any information relating to these fires please contact Detective Jonathan Treadway at the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office Tioga Sub Station (318) 640-6000, R.P.S.O. Main Office (318) 473-6700, or Crime Stoppers (318) 443-7867.

"Whenever a case goes cold, you always keep it in the back of your mind and then one day, one piece of evidence or information comes up and our detectives got right back on this case and solved it with an arrest" said Sheriff William Earl Hilton.

===

in light of the recent christmas day 2012 tornadoes which wrought much devastation to parts of central louisiana such as the garden district in alexandria and parts of tioga, ball & rigolette that after reading the press release a couple of questions came to mind.

is this bridge reopened?

what role if any did this bridge arson mischief play in hampering the responders getting to this neighborhood?

so we emailed lieutenant carnline to ask if the bridge was reopened (we figured he would know if the sheriff's office was able to patrol this area) and was he aware of any reports linking this 2011 mischief with hampering this storm's first responders and clean up crews?

he replied:

I checked with the Police Jury and the bridge was re-opened in the spring of this [2012] year. The only thing that hampered response to the devastation by the tornado’s were the trees in the roadway.

The Story of the Birth of ChristAs told through Luke and Matthewclick here to read more====

Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and giuen him a Name which is aboue euery name:That at the Name of Iesus euery knee should bow, of things in heauen, and things in earth, and things vnder the earth:And that euery tongue should confesse, that Iesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.Philippians 2:9-11 (King James Version 1611)

a christmas themed production of the cbs radio mystery theater that originally aired 23 december 1978.

the story of how a young lass named jennifer soileau and the christmas miracle of regeneration she brought to the life of the curmudgeonly old capitalist, jasper crown (howard da silva) ... but will it last?

24 December 2012

there were 1399 cbs radio mystery theater programs and you can probably find them all for download online. the internet archive has quite a few.

It's ominous theme music and longtime host E.G. Marshall's invitation to "return next time for another adventure in the macabre" cast spells across the airwaves for loyal listeners - myself included. Those voices (usually in some form of distress or conflict) echoing through my ears were all too real.[...]CBSRMT programs, including commercials, were an hour long on the air. Most mp3 files have been edited to remove the commercials and the length is 40 to 45 minutes - although, some contain the entire program complete with commercials and a newscast at the end or whatever programming surrounded the program. This can be quite interesting listening as well and I consider that to be a bonus.[...]I am willing to share these programs free of charge and I ask for nothing in return. Feel free to ask for programs in the forum. ~ cbsrmt.info a fan site.

23 December 2012

happened across this sight yesterday at libuse and the dollar general store. apparently, the architect, engineer and the rapides area planning commission didnt take into account this retail establishment's need for large truck freight deliveries.

nontheless, this trucker who must have ice water for blood managed to back his truck and trailor to the store using a narrow lane.

19 December 2012

observing the jarheads carrying on and as expected, carrying on quite smartly too, whilst capturing our marine one - air force one - potus video, we couldnt help but be carried back to ol' virginny [sic semper tyrannis] and the spit and polish navy.

there is a reason why the united states marine exemplifies superior military bearing compared to in this case the air force. notice how the marine makes even the scrambled egg who escorted the president between rides and his side-kick seem sloppy. the marine is standing at parade rest we dont know what the general and his aide are displaying.

10 December 2012

Sheriff William Earl Hilton announced this morning that an arrest has been made in the Dorothy Eyvonne Rosier homicide case.

Last night, Sheriff’s Detectives arrested Paul Jackson, 61 of 1125-A Jim Meyer Dr, Alexandria. Jackson was taken into custody and booked into the Rapides Parish Detention Center for 2nd Degree Murder and Obstruction of Justice and is currently being held without bond.

The investigation is still ongoing.

"Finally the family will have a little more closure to this case. In a cold case, you go back to zero, start over and run down every lead and that’s what our Detectives did. They have put in a lot of man hours and worked long into the night last night to make this arrest.” said Sheriff Hilton.

"I would also like to thank Sheriff Scott Franklin and the LaSalle Parish Sheriff’s Office for their ongoing assistance in this case."

As the investigation is still ongoing, there is no further information at this time as to cause of death or motive.

Rapides Parish Sheriff William Earl Hilton announced today that Sheriff’s Office Investigators have positively identified the remains found in the woods in LaSalle Parish as that of Dorothy Eyvonne Rosier.

While a presumptive identification was made based on dental records, preliminary results were leading investigators to believe that the remains may be the missing Rosier woman.

Positive identification was not received until last week with assistance of the Louisiana Repository for Unidentified and Missing People FACES Lab.

Based on these findings, investigators conclude that the remains are those of Ms. Rosier. Ms. Rosier was twenty five years old at the time of her disappearance.

The Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office along with the LaSalle Parish Sheriff’s Office will continue their joint investigation into this homicide and how the remains got into the woods at that location, who might have put them there and the events surrounding the death of Ms. Rosier.

Sheriff Hilton would like to thank Sheriff Scott Franklin and his department for their assistance and continued cooperation in the ongoing investigation of this case.

At this time, Sheriff’s Detectives would not speculate on any suspects or cause of death as this might hinder their investigation.

"This family needs closure to what happened to their daughter, their sister, their mother. We have been working diligently on this case since we came into office and we are looking into other unsolved cold cases. This is the one we need help on now. Someone knows something and we want you to do the right thing and come forward so this family will not have to spend another Christmas knowing the suspect in Dorothy’s murder is still out there" said Sheriff Hilton.

Anyone having information on the disappearance of Dorothy Eyvonne Rosier in January of 2010 is urged to contact the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office or the LaSalle Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Services for Mr. Carroll E. Lanier will be held at 1:00 p.m., Friday, December 7, 2012 in the Chapel of Hixson Brothers, Alexandria with Reverend Clifton Stewart officiating. Burial will be in Forest Lawn Memorial Park.

The family requests that visitation be observed Thursday, December 6, 2012 at Hixson Brothers, Alexandria from 5:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. and will continue on Friday from 8:00 a.m. until time of service.

01 December 2012

prescient? refreshingly candid? a freudian slip? -- "it was my turn" was the answer alexandria, la. city council at-large candidate, lee rubin chose to give to the question put to him by fred rosenfeld on why is he running for the alexandria city council at-large seat.

the runoff is on saturday, 08 december 2012, when he will face the incumbent -- roosevelt johnson. councilman johnson received 39.94% of the primary vote.

here's the thing, we dont want either one of 'em. neither would have been our first choice in the primary.

councilman johnson wouldnt be so bad if he would grow a backbone and stop being a puppet. dude you're not crafty at plotting and deceit. so stop.

it's obvious that the mayor and the silk stocking gang have a lot at stake in this election. they've poured tons of money into mr. rubin's coffers in an effort to solidify the control by the mayor and his gang over the majority city council votes and by extension the public fisc and governmental power.the results of their massive psyop arent all that impressive. although, at least one person as late as monday, 05 november 2012, election eve, was on ksyl radio predicting that councilman johnson wouldnt even make the runoff.

one glaring omission in this interview that we noticed which mostly speaks to the ethics and integrity or lack thereof of cenla broadcasting -- in that they didnt require the interviewer/show cohost fred rosenfeld to disclose that a local company he owns, the parc england boutique hotel, contribute to the lee rubin campaign.

that was an especially egregious oversight when seeing how it was reported by steve coco from his cenla news blog back on 07 october 2012.

anyway, this race has many fascinating dynamics -- one being how many of the non-johnson votes were more anti-roy than anti-johnson votes? mr. rubin was seen from the start of the race as being the mayor's boy; as far as we know the only one who could be considered outright pro-roy. the only other candidate might be milton gordon who probably looks at the mayor's plans favorably.so even though mr. rubin was correct when he pointed out to the gannett/alexandria daily town talk that 60% of the electorate voted against the incumbent -- with this whole pro and anti-roy dynamic vibrating through the city the numbers still dont add up to an inevitable rubin victory.

one the other hand the mayor and the silk stocking gang did manage to finally get rid of myron lawson and that was an at-large election too. albeit a few years or in a political sense an eternity ago.

29 November 2012

with faith ford; her husband campion murphy and their associate chad bailey (sp?) tuesday, 27 november 2012, appearance before the alexandria, louisiana city council's finance and legal affairs committee, details of their plan to teach the film making craft to locals has become clearer.

the below news report from gannett/the alexandria daily town talk which appeared on their website here and on page a-3 of the wednesday, 28 november 2012, print edition, is a pretty accurate recital of what the acp managers had to say.

although ms. ford's plan doesnt call for a full blown brick and mortar film school as we'd originally hoped, we still support it as long as using taxpayer money is just a one time occurrence. inkind contributions are a different matter.

one thing that does concern us is that the plan as presented doesnt seem to leave much room for error. it really does seem like a one shot attempt.

like she said, ms. ford & acp have some thirty years experience in the film industry. they have valuable knowledge that they are willing to share; we hope that their project is a success.

====
click picture to enlarge

====

====

alexis crew productions, l3c, was registered as a low profit limited liability company with the louisiana sec'y of state on 19 november 2012

in short, on or about 24 october 2012, the faircloth law group made a one thousand dollars campaign donation to tim kelley who was running for associate justice of the louisiana supreme court. the election was held less than two weeks later.

according to the louisiana sec'y of state elections website, judge kelley received only 3.07% of the vote or second from the bottom in an eight candidate field.

surely the polls and being so close to the election, it must have been strongly suspected; especially to a seasoned casino and political attorney such as mr. faircloth, that judge kelley had very little chance of making the runoff -- eh?

then, when you consider that the voucher lawsuit was filed months ago and as far as we know, mr. faircloth has been the governor's attorney from the start and the case has always been allotted to judge kelley ... well, we dont even gamble, much, but it's certainly not beyond the realm of imagination to ponder whether or not that with mr. faircloth's donation he was "hedging his bet," so to speak, on the pending voucher lawsuit. in the least it probably didnt hurt either right?

in any event, due to this revelation of cenlamar's, judge kelley should recuse himself because any ruling in favor of the governor is obviously not going to be seen as legitimate.

14 November 2012

a blurb at the end of a billy gunn piece in this morning's gannett/alexandria daily town talk got our attention:

Mayor Jacques M. Roy and Councilman Jerry Jones Jr. announced a possible teaming of the city with actress and producer Faith Ford and her husband, Campion Murphy, who also is in the film business. The couple lives in Pineville, where Ford is from.The endeavor would train television and film crews needed to produce programs in Central Louisiana.The company owned by Ford and Murphy has been coined "Alexis Crew Productions," but has not yet registered its incorporation with the state, according to the Louisiana Secretary of State's website.

we see the obvious political intrigue. we were surprised that jules green did as well as he did in the election.

councilman jerry jones is widely viewed as mayor roy's puppet to cure that perception we expected them to stage a falling out so that councilman jones could establish his independence. apparently they both felt they needed to go to film school first in order to pull that off.

even so we prefer this carrot-n-stick approach because a film school would be an enhancement to the community. it would be good for the blogosphere and online community as well. if anyone could take a class to learn how to film, produce and post online, say, public meetings like a teevee show. then a school like that would provide the public with knowledge and information of real value.

sooner rather than later and one way or another, the louisiana supreme court is gonna have to bow to common sense, technology, public pressure or a constitutional amendment and finally provide for the recording and live streaming of court room proceedings. that channel would get some ratings.

so our initial impression over the film school is that it would be a plus.

others have their own ideas like mr. jules green who phoned in to ksyl's talkback preshow w/ fred & bob this morning to invoke unpleasant memories of the bonnie and clyde film.

he did mention that the city is obligating itself to put up to $50,000 in money and/or services -- info that mr. gunn conveniently left out of his report.

questions that remain unanswered so far are: if councilman jones loses to mr. green will there still be a film school located someplace else or is it all or nothing?
is the film school even viable or is just a hoax to get councilman jones reelected? (remember the hotel bentley sale and downtown condos hoax from several years ago?) would the mayor pull out all the stops and create a hoax to get a councilman that he controls reelected? yeah probably - but on the other hand what does ms. ford stand to gain by participating in a political hoax?

this is what we believe - we believe that ms. ford and her husband want to open a film school and this provides a pretty good plan.

whether the district 3 location is dependent on an all or nothing vote for councilman jones remains to be seen.
anyway, earlier we tweeted ms. ford and asked her to add our email address to any press release list they have; she tweeted back that she would. if we receive anything we'll post it. you can always follow and tweet her yourself @faith_ford.

====

wst... note we began drafting this post early this morning when we first read the gannett/town talk report and added to it as the morning progressed. we dont know anything more about this project than what we've disclosed here. we have emailed councilman jones and city attorney charles johnson and asked if the film school is planned to be located within district 3 and for a copy of whatever was introduced on tuesday that mr. green was on about. if we receive a response we'll post it.

UPDATE: alexandria city attorney charles johnson replied tentatively:

To date, there are no documents responsive to your request other than the title of the prospective ordinance. I will forward a copy of the titled introduction. The actual draft of the ordinance has not been completed.

====

UPDATE-2 email from city attorney charles johnson:

Find enclosed the document responsive to your request. The media piece you forwarded does not accurately state what the mayor said at the council meeting. We will send a copy of the full ordinance once completed. It will be near the date set for final adoption.

remember this is just a preamble-- the final ordinance is being ironed out. nowhere does it say or suggest that the mayor is about to hand over $50,000 of the taxpayers money to the alexis crew productions principals.

it's likely that any taxpayer funds expended will be in the form of inkind value.

such that probably any neighborhood that ms. ford placed her school in would benefit.

20 October 2012

it was october in st. louis town when we heard that the free bird had fell to the ground ... and we all said a prayer before we went down, to play ~ cdb "reflections"

Gillsburg, Amite County, Mississippi -- Thursday 20 October 1977

At 1843 CDT a 1948 Convair 240, registered as N55VM to the L&J Company of Addison, Texas, crashed into a swamp located on timber company land in the unincorporated community of Gillsburg in Amite County, Mississippi.

The flight was carrying a crew of two plus twenty-four members of the Lynyrd Skynyrd band; backup vocalists, the bands tour managers, road crew and security manager.

Lynyrd Skynyrd was scheduled to perform at the Louisiana State University Assembly Center on 21 October for what would have been its fifth performance on its 1977 - 1978 "Tour of the Survivors."

The crash is believed caused by a faulty magneto in the Convair's starboard engine:

The National Transportation Safety Board determined the likely cause of the crash of N55VM was, "fuel exhaustion and total loss of power on both engines due to crew inattention to the fuel supply."The Safety Board further found that the fuel exhaustion was caused by deficient flight planning, and an engine malfunction of undetermined nature in the right engine which resulted in higher than normal fuel consumption. ~ source NTSB Identification: DCA78AA001 [link broken as of december 2011 see below screen grab] & Lynyrd Skynyrd's Crash

Johnny Mote, 22, a dairy farmer whose property is near the crash site said the crash "sounded like a car skidding in gravel." Mr. Mote was out haying his cattle when he was "flagged down" by three crash survivors, Artmus Pyle, Kenneth Peden, Jr. and Marc Frank.

[T]hat when he reached the crash site ... "Some people were crying and some were moaning. Some didn't know what was going on," he also said rescuers had to wade through a waterhole to get to the crash site and that, once there, they had to remove band instruments to free trapped survivors.

Eventually three helicopters from the Coast Guard, Mississippi National Guard and Forrest County General Hospital assisted in the rescue.

At least two bulldozers were needed to construct a path from Mississippi State Highway 568 to site of the crash.

"sweet home alabama" / "dont ask me no questions"dubbed old footage. no date.

"t for texas"possibly uk tour 1975 or '76

"i'm a country boy"nuthin fancy 1975

"cry for the bad man"live winterland arenasan francisco03 march 1976

"you got that right"live asbury park13 july 1977

====

wolf gangs vault has several lynyrd skynyrd concerts to listen to. you have to register and log in.

for now, you can still listen to full length concerts for free -- after logging in press play now. in some browsers you might have to allow popup windows. you also have the option buy tracks and concerts..

12 October 2012

the one and thankfully only vice presidential debate was held last night, thursday, 11 october 2012 in danville, kansas at centre college, between crazy joe biden and scary eddie paul munster-ryan.

after watching this mess the only thing we could think of is how pathetic and shameful it is, that, out of a country with a population of 300 million plus people to draw from, we allow ourselves to be misled over and over again into believing, that, for instance, these two (and their ticket) are the best to lead the federal government there is.

10 October 2012

last night around 9:00 pm cdt what must have been two huge military planes flew over practically at tree top level.

sitting inside hearing their approach, the first thought that crossed our mind was that it was a commercial flight taking off from aex having an emergency and that the pilot was attempting to loop around and land at esf.

as it grew louder and louder we wondered if it was going to crash in the front yard.

by the time we got outside we could see that it was actually two same model planes. the one on the left is even lower than the right one and is obscured by the tree line.